Scenic Sundays | Not the Good Kind of Deja Vu

Back in 2007, we had a lot of snow in Iowa. So much snow that we didn’t know where to put it. Our Condo Association had to hire a crew to come remove our snow pile so we had a place to put more snow. There was so much snow that our offices closed at least twice that winter. I had problems getting back from a business trip in Philly and slept on my brother’s floor (2 months after he got married) for three days. My sister-in-law still have fond memories of those snow days.

Thankfully spring finally came, the snow melted and the rain came. And it rained and rained and rained and it just wouldn’t stop. In June 2008, the Cedar River crested at over 31 feet and downtown Cedar Rapids and its surrounding neighborhoods were devastated.

Over the last week, areas north of my corner of Iowa have received over a foot of rain. I’m watching friends fret and frantically move their worldly possessions out of their houses. My husband and I have discussed filling jugs with water because, while we don’t live near the flood zone, back 2008 our town shared our water supply with Cedar Rapids because theirs was severely compromised. As a result, we were asked to limit our water use to prevent overstraining the system. And last night, I had memories of working from home because the main route to work was flooded.

On Friday night, as I sat around my friend’s fire pit in the flood zone, we shared stories of the day the waters hit the City in ’08. We recalled what the clean up entailed (you never want to experience flood rash) and how the city is just starting to truly see the recovery from the 2008 flood come to fruition only to be faced with another devastating flood. We shared our fears of seeing it happen again.

You see back in 2008 they predicted the river would crest at just over 20-some feet and it hit a record 31 feet—a-once-in-a-500-year flood, they said, only once in a life time. Boy, time moves fast.

Taken on June 9, 2008 in Marion, Iowa.In the days after the flood the sunsets were amazing.This image should look familiar to longtime followers of Second Run Reviews. It’s the official Scenic Sunday image.